India drew 0-0 with Kuwait in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium, with over 58,000 in attendance. It was Sunil Chhetri’s final game in the blue shirt, hanging up his boots after making 151 appearances for the national team, scoring 94 goals over the course of a 19-year career.
Neither side was able to find the breakthrough in the course of over 90 minutes in Kolkata, in spite of a very loud crowd behind the home team.
India suffer major blow in Round 3 Qualification hopes
The word 'Legend' is not enough to describe you 🫡
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) June 6, 2024
Thank you for everything, #SunilChhetri! 🙌🇮🇳pic.twitter.com/9dcZoCniER
The Blues had several major opportunities to score in the first half, in particular, a corner that went just above the bar. But, it was a game of two halves, with Kuwait managing the game very well. The visitors controlled the play much better after the break, fashioning many more chances.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into making a number of important saves in the second half, and ended up keeping a clean sheet in the process. Although Kuwait were quite sharp and precise in moving the ball around, they lacked composure in the final third to break the deadlock.
At the end of the game, Sunil Chhetri was visibly emotional, thanking the fans for their support and breaking down ahead of a guard of honour from his teammates.
